Monday, January 31, 2011

The B-52s-Planet ClaireCandie Payne-I Wish I Could Have Loved You MoreWanda Jackson-You Know I'm No GoodIron and Wine-Me and LazarusEdward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros-40 Day DreamTennis-BaltimoreDavid Lowery-Raise Up On HoneyBuffalo Springfield-Expecting to FlySimon and Garfunkel-AmericaThe XX-VCRBat for Lashes-What's a Girl to DoYeasayer-Madder RedMiike Snow-BurialBjork-JogaIkonika-IdiotPhonecia-JPACEaTelecine-It's All WriteThrobbing Gristle-Convincing PeopleCoil-Tainted LoveElastica-Line UpSantigold-UnstoppableSleigh Bells-Rill RillDuran Duran-New Moon on MondayCee-Lo Green-Bright Lights, Bigger CityThomas Dolby-Airwaves

Sunday, January 16, 2011

Smokey Robinson and the Miracles-Mickey's MonkeyOtis Redding-Shake!Wilson Pickett-Ninety Nine and a Half Just Won't DoPercy Wiggins-It Didn't Take Much for MeThe Impressions-You Must Believe MeJay and the Techniques-Apple, Peaches, Pumpkin PieThe Shirelles-Sha La LaMartha and the Vandellas-Jimmy MackBob and Earl-The Harlem ShuffleRay Charles-Don't You KnowThe Delfonics-Trying to Make a Fool of MeAretha Franklin-Ain't No WayJimmy Radcliffe-Long After Tonight is OverSam Cooke-Good TimesThe Staples Singers-Respect YourselfThe Velvettes-He Was Really Saying SomethingJoe Tex-You Said a Bad WordClarence 'Frogman' Henry-I Ain't Got a HomeChairmen of the Board-Give Me Just a Little More TimeMarvin Gaye-Wonderful OneThe Stylistics-Betcha By Golly Wow!Roberta Flack-To Love SomebodyIsaac Hayes-SoulsvilleJackson 5-2, 4, 6, 8Shirley Ellis-The Hand Clapping SongTroy Sams and the Lala Wilson Band-A Thousand Miles ApartThe Parliaments-Look at What I Almost MissedSam and Dave-You Got Me Hummin'Sharon Jones and the Dap Kings-The Dap DipAl Green-Love and HappinessJames Brown-Ain't That a GrooveJo Ann Garrett-Goin' Man Huntin'Stevie Wonder-Heaven Help Us All

Friday, January 14, 2011

For years, I've bemoaned something that Prince, MJ and Madonna all have in common: Each has at least one video collection on the market, but none of the 1980s triple crown of pop has a definitive collection. That tide appears to be shifting. While it's still not "complete," Madonna's 2009 collection Celebration is a fairly comprehensive 2 dvd set covering 1983-2009 (still no "Gambler?" For shame). Prince's incredibly slim The Hits Video Collection remains his only career-spanning collection, and lacks many of the Purple One's promo films (too many to bother listing).

And then there's Michael Jackson. The artist who rather early on redefined music video as an art form and MTV as a cultural force. 1992's HIStory collection gathered the hits, some in truncated form (on the VHS release anyway). The companion volume repeated some of the hits from volume 1, along with videos from the HIStory album. 2001's Number Ones DVD rehashes the big hits, most in their edited forms.

So despite it being an obvious effort to cash in on posthumous Michael Mania, I was excited to get wind of Vision, a 3-DVD career spanning set of MJ's videos in original, unedited form.

The set chronicles Michael's career as a visual artist from Off the Wall through Invincible. And to have the full-length, unedited versions is a treat, as I hadn't seen many of these since their original MTV premieres. The 18+ minute version of "Bad," for example. Or the 9+ minute cut of "The Way You Make Me Feel." Or the 9+ minute version of "Smooth Criminal."

There is one censored cut, however. While the full 11 minutes of "Black or White" is here (zipper pulling, crotch grabbing, Simpsons' outro and all!), it is not the originally aired version, which included some graffiti-ed racial slurs in the dance segment. I believe that version is still available on Dangerous: The Short Films, however, so chalk one up for cashing in on those with completest tendencies (moi?).

It's also great to see the lesser known cuts, like "Another Part of Me," "Liberian Girl," "Give in to Me" and "They Don't Care About Us." It seems they were really going for a definitive collection here.

So much so that the bonus disc includes 7 videos that don't strictly fall under the banner of Michael Jackson - "Enjoy Yourself," "Blame it on the Boogie" and "Can You Feel It" (all by the post-Motown Jacksons), "Say Say Say" (the so-cheesy-it's-good duet with Sir Paul), Spike Lee's alternate "prison" cut of "They Don't Care About Us," "Why" (with nephews 3T, though none of them are Jermajesty) and the previously unreleased "One More Chance."

It wasn't until this bonus disc that I recalled a few cuts that are in fact absent. If we're talking Jacksons videos, absent here is "Torture" (which is in fact, a pretty torturous cut) and "2300 Jackson Street." If I recall my Pop-Up Video correctly, MJ didn't actually appear in the "Torture" clip, but they borrowed a wax figure from Madame Tusseaud's (!). Wikipedia also claims video clips for "Dreamer," "Goin' Places," "Even Though You're Gone," "Shake Your Body (Down to the Ground)" and "Body," though this is all news to me. My guess is most of these were clips from Bandstand and the like that aired on outlets like The Box.

Oh wow...there is definitely a video for "Body!" (Though again, no MJ.)

Thank god for YouTube. And of course, I had to check all of the others. There is a video for "Dreamer" [embedding disabled by request. BOOOOOO]

"Shake Your Body (Down to the Ground)" -

"Even Though You're Gone" -

"Goin' Places" -

Of course, some of these may actually be pulled from the Jacksons Variety Show.

Despite the absence of some of the Jacksons cuts, the collection is quite comprehensive (though I believe the video for "Gone Too Soon" is different than what I remembered).

It's a good thing that I bought this set over a semester break, because I ended up watching the bulk of it in one sitting. It does suck you in, particularly on the first disc. Sure, there's a dropoff point on disc 2, but if even the lesser videos weren't included, people like me would be quick to point out the omissions.

All told, this is the Michael Jackson video collection we've been waiting for. Given that it only touts 7 cuts, the bonus disc could have been padded with a number of other clips (the aforementioned Jacksons material, "We Are the World," etc.") But I'm splitting hairs here. Vision may be a bit of a rush job, but as the estate floods the market, this is one of the items that most fans actually want.

The sad thing is, I don't think we'll see anything like this from Prince until he dies, but that's another story altogether.

Thursday, January 13, 2011

In the late 1980s, I pumped a lot of quarters into Moonwalker at the local arcade. You got to dance, hear midi-versions of MJ hits, turn into a robot and even Bubbles was in the game!It was the one regret I had about choosing a Super Nintendo over Sega Genesis (although, I felt vindicated years later when I learned the Genesis version paled to the arcade game).

When Michael Jackson: The Experience was announced, I was both excited and skeptical. But as gameplay videos began to leak out in the fall, I knew I'd have to get it sooner or later. The game has met with mixed reviews. Personally, I think it's a hoot. Following on-screen guides, you use your Wii-mote to replicate MJ's on-screen moves. Greater accuracy garners higher point values. It's a great party game (especially after a few beverages), and you will work up a sweat. All tracks are the original masters, although a couple are edited for length.

I will say that the track collection could have been stronger. The most iconic cuts are here, but there are also a few very questionable choices. For example, "The Girl is Mine:"

Other headscratchers include "Dirty Diana," "Heal the World," "Will You Be There" and "Money." For a dance game based on an artist known for high octane pop, these ballads are neither challenging nor particularly interesting to play. I would gladly have foresaken these cuts for "Jam," "PYT" or "Scream," all of which are excluded from the game. The upcoming PS3/XBox versions will have two extra cuts however. The equally pointless "I Just Can't Stop Loving You" and "Blood on the Dance Floor," which could be interesting.

Ballads aside, the game is a blast. One edge the Wii version has over the PS3/Xbox versions (at least from the press material I've seen) is that the Wii game puts you inside of the iconic videos for MJ's hits, while the other versions put players on a concert stage. For an artist whose popularity rests largely on music video innovation, it seems odd to forgo drawing on that familiar imagery.

On the other hand, the Xbox version is likely to have the best control. I haven't used a Kinnect, but the with one hand held Wii-mote as your only measure of movement, you can bs the moves if you really care to. Hell, you could stand still and simply move your hand in the appropriate directions and get the points (similar to the vocal in Rock Band being based on pitch and rhythm rather than actual phonetics). But that defeats the purpose, no? Might as well go all out and burn a few calories.

In sum, the song collection could be better, but other than that, I think that most Michael Jackson fans will enjoy the game, and that cocktails will be spilt on many a living room rug as players dance the night away.